Hollande says French combat troops to leave Afghanistan by end of 2012

French President Francois Hollande for the first time has provided details of his plan to pull France?s combat troops out of Afghanistan by the end of the year, saying he would leave around 1,400 soldiers behind to help with training and logistics.

The new French leader, making good on one of the major foreign-policy promises of his campaign, confirmed in a one-day visit to Afghanistan on Friday that all of France?s 2,000 combat troops would be brought home by the end of this year ? putting France on a fast-track exit timetable that sparked consternation among some allies at a NATO summit in Chicago early this week.

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Mr. Hollande?s comments marked the first time that he had put an exact figure on the French deployment after the combat troops leave, suggesting that logistical necessities for France as well as its support for Afghanistan?s hoped-for transition to peace will go well beyond the year-end target.

?The time for Afghan sovereignty has come,? Mr. Hollande said during a meeting with French troops at a base in Kapisa province?s Nijrab district. ?The terrorist threat that targeted our territory, while it hasn?t totally disappeared, is in part lessened.?

Mr. Hollande, who took office last week, said that after more than a decade in Afghanistan, French combat troops had carried out their mission and it was time for them to leave in an early pullout co-ordinated with the United States and other allies. He said some trainers would remain to help Afghanistan?s nascent security forces. NATO has set a pullout date of 2014, when Afghan troops are to take over security control.

The French leader met with troops and discussed the withdrawal plans with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Mr. Hollande?s visit was not announced ahead of time for security reasons.

France now has 3,400 troops and 150 gendarmes in Afghanistan. Under Mr. Hollande?s plan, some would stay behind to help send military equipment back to France, and others would help train the Afghan army and police. He did not provide a breakdown for the roles of the 1,400 soldiers who will remain past 2012 or how long they would stay.

?We won?t have any more combat forces in Afghanistan after Dec. 31, 2012. I say specifically combat forces,? Mr. Hollande said during a function at the French Embassy. ?We will still have a military force that will be dedicated to the training of Afghan army officers ? that will also be present at the hospital, the airport and also will allow the Afghans to have a police force that is the most effective possible.?

Mr. Hollande insisted France was not abandoning Afghanistan.

?This is a continuation, and there will be further engagement ? but in a different form,? he said, such as in cultural and economic matters. ?We want France to have a presence in Afghanistan differently from how it did in the past.?

France has troops in the capital Kabul, in the Surobi district and Kapisa province to the east, and at Kandahar air base in the south ? where it has three fighter jets. A French military spokesman, Col. Thierry Burkhard, said most of the 2,000 who will leave will be those in Kapisa and Surobi. He said ?hundreds? of trainers would remain, and soldiers conducting pullout logistics will leave bit by bit along with the withdrawing troops.

Mr. Hollande warned of possible problems in the pullout. ?We will have to take every precaution. We must limit as much as possible our losses, make sure that there is no risk for our soldiers,? he said.

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